Sunday, December 11, 2005

Many tattoo shops prohibit any photographs to be taken in their shops. I never really asked why but have always assumed it has something to do with copyrights. It always makes me cringe whenever I see template displays in tattoo shops with incorrect translation and wrongly written characters.

The character 化 with caption “to bewitch” is not necessarily correct. The Japanese 化かす does have “to bewitch” as one of its meanings, but the character 化 by itself only means “to change” or “to convert”, and “reaction” in Chemistry. 蠱惑 is often used to describe “bewitch”.

The last character in “hero” appeared to be mirrored. The three characters 主人公 only mean “main character”. If you ever stepped foot in a DVD store, you will know “hero” is 英雄, there is even a movie with the same title was made starring Jet Li.

The “energy” character 活 means “to survive” or “to exist”. Usually 氣 is used to represent “energy” in terms of “Chi” or “Qi”, and 能 is used to represent physical energy.

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Wednesday, November 30, 2005

Well designed business cards are necessary to attract potential clients’ attention. Shi Studio recently passed out these cards at a Toronto art show. According to their website, “Shi means poems in Chinese”.

That is absolutely correct.

Unfortunately, that is not what is printed on their cards.

The character on the card is 禅 (or 禪), which means “meditation”, and “shi” (or "poem") should be 詩 (or 诗).

The top character 姉 is a Japanese specific character for "elder sister". Its equivalent in Chinese are 姊 and 姐.

The bottom character 妹 means "younger sister". If the order of two horizontal stokes in 未 partical are reversed and changed the character to 妺, it would mean "wife of the last ruler of the Xia dynasty".

Both characters are somewhat recognizable, but I am astonished by the mangled left partial 女.

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Wednesday, November 16, 2005

If you ever needed a reason to prevent yourself from tattooing your own name onto your leg in a language you don't understand nor speak, i.e. Chinese, this would be a good one.

Peter wanted his name in Chinese to be tattooed on his leg. Too bad, Peter was too trusting or naïve, and did not get a second opinion on the translation. He has put all his trust in the hands of his tattooist and tattooist’s unconfirmed flash book.

Saturday, November 12, 2005

“Sept. 24, 2003: Shawn Marion will be sporting a new look beyond the added pounds he piled on in the weight room this summer. A tattoo down his right leg in Chinese lettering which translates to ‘The Matrix’ was added to his body art early in the off-season.”

The three “Chinese lettering” Mr. Marion sporting does not really translate as “The Matrix” in Chinese.

Saturday, November 5, 2005

“It is a picture of a tattoo taken by some racist, who apparently just downloaded an ‘Asian’ font from the Internet, wrote ‘SAY NO TO NIGGERS’ with that font and let somebody to tattoo it in his back. Of course, since languages don't work that way - which apparently is too much to comprehend for our little white supremacist here - the message is completely incomprehensible, as it actually is just finish with a strange font.”

The tattoo is complete gibberish.

Update: The tattoo shown here is suppose to be Finnish of “SANO EI LAKUPEKOILLE”, which is the English equivalent for “say no to niggers”. The owner of the tattoo used an “Asian” font to mimic the alphabets. What the fool did not realize is that the Chinese do not use alphabets. Way to show your racial superiority by using another culture's language.

In Nov. 2005 issue of GQ magazine, there is an article called "The Office Dick" by Cecil Donahue. It identifies "The Common Two-Face Slacker" with the characteristics of "odd facial piercings" and "Chinese character tattooed on back of neck".

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Tuesday, October 25, 2005

I would like know why someone would voluntarily pay $35+ ($35 for 3x3, $70 for 4x4 and $100 for 5x5 inches with purchase of a Powerbook) to have “All Rights Reserved” (版權所有) in Chinese etched on their Apple Powerbook.

Does having Chinese characters etched on the Powerbook would make it any more unique than the next Joe Schmoe’s Powerbook with the exact same Chinese phrase? Also, does the potential customer even know what the phrase really mean? It could easy be "pretentious douche bag", although that would be a much entertaining choice than "All Rights Reserved".

(Disclaimer: I don't think Apple computer users are douche bags)

Couldn’t they come up with some creative or inspiring phrases? I mean there are literally millions of Chinese literatures to choose from.

Here is one suggestion I have: how about just etch the owner’s contact info in case the laptop has been snatched from their local hot spot.

Ps. Thanks to the "cult of mac" for sending it in.

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Tuesday, October 18, 2005

One of the basic principles many martial arts share is not to flaunt. Unfortunately many students have completely disregarded this important teaching, rather brand themselves with superficial gibberish.

Just because you have purchased the latest books on Feng Shui風水 and watched way too much home make-over shows, it does not mean you have to jump onto the bandwagon. At least please consult someone first.